Rebirth: I am in Jin-Cha-Ji

It’s just that the China National Cereals, Oils and Foodstuffs Import and Export Corporation was established mainly to adapt to China’s current grain and oil import and export business, and it is not as powerful as it was in the future.

Chen Yun did not speak immediately, but looked at Deng Zhihui.

Because the import and export of agricultural products in the early years was inseparable from the Rural Work Committee and later the Rural Work Ministry, because the basic companies for the import and export of agricultural products were all under the control of the Rural Work Ministry.

Deng Zhihui nodded and said: "Unified management,

It can save a lot of unnecessary links and increase the efficiency of agricultural product import and export. I support the establishment of China National Cereals, Oils and Foodstuffs Import and Export Corporation.

This is a reform in import and export management.

While this will affect some of the Ministry of Rural Affairs' work, it won't be a significant impact. Furthermore, having such a unified management company will also be beneficial for the sale of agricultural products. "We at the Ministry of Agriculture also think this is a good thing."

Li Shaocheng, the second deputy minister of the Ministry of Rural Affairs and Minister of Agriculture, also followed Deng Zhihui in expressing his support.

Chen Yun looked at Wei Hongjun and Deng Xixian, seeing neither had any objections, so he nodded. As the company in charge of the import and export of agricultural and processed products nationwide, the China National Cereals, Oils, and Foodstuffs Import and Export Corporation held a very high position.

Because the trade volume in this area is currently very high among China's exports, Lei Renmin understood that by establishing this company, he had taken a lot of profits from the Ministry of Rural Affairs and the Ministry of Agriculture.

Therefore, Lei Renmin suggested that the Ministry of Rural Affairs recommend a cadre to serve as the Party Secretary of China National Cereals, Oils and Foodstuffs Import and Export Corporation. This could be considered as a reward for Deng Zhihui's support for the Ministry of Foreign Trade.

While China National Cereals, Oils and Foodstuffs Import and Export Corporation (CNCEIFC) is a formidable entity, it's not on the same scale as the previously discussed SASAC reform. While SASAC requires approval from the Politburo and the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, the establishment of CNCEIFC only requires approval from the Finance and Economics Working Committee and signature from Wei Hongjun.

After discussing the China National Cereals, Oils and Foodstuffs Import and Export Corporation, Lei Renmin continued, "In the early days of liberation, my country, in order to overcome the shortage of various materials, chose to import large quantities of oil, steel and other materials from the Soviet Union. At the same time, it established the China Import and Export Corporation, which specialized in trade with Western countries and imported important materials urgently needed for domestic production and daily life."

China Import and Export Corporation was formed by the merger of two companies.

One was the immediate aftermath of liberation, when supplies and foreign exchange were in dire straits. The central government decided to establish the China Import Company. The China Import Company held considerable power at the time, and because of the lack of foreign exchange, all imports required its approval. It could only import supplies urgently needed by the country; imports for any other purpose were prohibited.

Later, in order to expand import and export trade, the central government merged the China Import Company and the largest trading company in the country at that time.

That is, the North China Trading Company, which developed from the Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei Trading Company, was merged to form a new China Import and Export Corporation.

"Within less than a decade of its establishment, China Import and Export Corporation had established trade relations with thousands of clients in more than 60 countries and regions, achieving rapid export growth and opening up international import channels for petroleum and chemical products."

"In recent years, with the increase in my country's oil and coal production, my country has shifted from importing oil to exporting oil, coal, and other resources in exchange for foreign exchange. Oil exports are primarily handled by the Ministry of Petroleum Industry, while coal exports are handled by the Ministry of Coal Industry. As a result, my country's current situation is that the import of oil and chemicals relies primarily on Chinese import and export companies, while the export of energy sources such as oil and coal is directly managed by government departments."

"This creates some contradictions. Originally, there needed to be unified data on how much oil China needs domestically, how much it can export, and how much chemical products it imports. But now, because each country is operating independently, sometimes it imports more and sometimes it exports more. This has led to conflicts between imports and exports."

“Therefore, the Ministry of Foreign Trade suggested merging the import and export businesses of my country’s oil and other resources with petrochemical products, coal chemical products and other chemical products.”

Wei Hongjun listened quietly to the suggestions from the Ministry of Foreign Trade.

The Ministry of Foreign Trade has a big appetite.

Their goal is to consolidate import and export authority from various ministries and bring it under the Ministry of Foreign Trade. While the central government has delegated responsibility for national import and export operations to the Ministry of Foreign Trade, the powerful central ministries have also exercised their own import and export authority. Clearly, the Ministry of Foreign Trade now believes this situation is detrimental to regulating the nation's import and export operations.

But Lei Renmin was still too anxious.

The Ministry of Rural Affairs' real power didn't lie in import and export operations. Therefore, they weren't particularly concerned with changes in import and export operations. As long as these import and export companies could buy agricultural products, Deng Zhihui and his team didn't care.

But it is different for departments such as the Ministry of Petroleum Industry and the Ministry of Coal Industry.

They directly control import and export businesses. They even have direct control over the import and export of resources like oil and coal, directly profiting from them. While those import and export companies are nominally under the leadership of the Ministry of Foreign Trade, they are actually trading companies directly controlled by these ministries.

It's not that easy to take away their import and export power directly. This is not something that can be decided by one or two leaders from the Ministry of Petroleum Industry and the Ministry of Coal Industry. There are so many cadres involved.

The funds involved are hundreds of millions or even billions of RMB.

As expected, the Ministry of Petroleum Industry and the Ministry of Coal Industry soon expressed their opposition. Xu Daben said directly,

"Only the Ministry of Coal Industry has the most accurate data on China's annual coal production, coal distribution, coal export volume, and how to export it," he said.

The Ministry of Coal Industry can decide how much coal to export based on annual coal production and domestic consumption. Coal production and domestic sales fluctuate daily, and the Ministry of Foreign Trade has no real-world information on this aspect.

Since Lei Renmin made this suggestion, he must have made all the necessary preparations.

So he immediately retorted, "Foreign trade requires advance orders, not a make-or-sell business. The Ministry of Coal Industry should formulate production plans based on domestic coal demand and the Ministry of Trade's external orders, rather than directly engaging in foreign trade itself."

Both of them are high-level intellectuals.

Xu Daben was a graduate of Beiyang University, and Lei Renmin was a graduate of Peking University Law School. As a result, the two men argued fiercely at a meeting of the Finance and Economics Working Committee.

"Comrade Lei Renmin, Comrade Xu Daben, please speak properly."

Chen Yun asked the two of them not to quarrel.

The two men calmed down a bit, but soon the quarrel resumed. Seeing this, Wei Hongjun could only say, "Comrades, this is a meeting to discuss issues, not a place for quarreling. What can you get out of quarreling?"

Xu Daben shut up when he saw Wei Hongjun speaking, but he was still not convinced.

Coal is the foundation of China's industry, and the Ministry of Coal Industry has achieved remarkable results in recent years.

Xu Daben also became a standing member of the Finance and Economics Working Committee. Among the ministries and commissions of the State Council, there are only three people who are standing members of the Finance and Economics Working Committee simply because they are ministers, and Xu Daben is one of them.

So Xu Daben is very confident in speaking.

The Ministry of Coal Industry now uses coal domestically and exports it to China to earn foreign exchange. Why should the coal export trading company be handed over?

Wei Hongjun looked at Zhou Bin and said, "Comrade Zhou Bin, I think we should make a distinction when it comes to the import and export of bulk commodities. One is for trade with socialist countries, and the other is for trade with non-socialist countries. Because the two political systems have completely different ways of trading." "So for the import and export of bulk commodities, we can set up two companies. Let me talk about oil. We will set up two oil import and export companies. One is for the import and export of oil and petrochemical products with socialist countries, and the other is for the import and export of oil and petrochemical products with socialist countries.

One is an oil and petrochemical product import and export company from a non-socialist country. What do you think?"

The Ministry of Foreign Trade and these national ministries and commissions are fighting too hard,

It would be of no benefit to either side, just like if there were a real conflict between the Ministry of Coal Industry and the Ministry of Foreign Trade, it would seriously affect their future cooperation.

However, both parties have their own interests. If we try to resolve the issue quickly, one party will definitely be dissatisfied. It would be better for each party to take responsibility for a part and then slowly adjust the situation later.

Zhou Bin nodded.

Zhou Bin also understood that the Ministry of Foreign Trade's actions this time were a bit too radical and had been met with resistance from some central government ministries. Therefore, it was necessary to take a step back. If Zhou Bin took a step back, Lei Renmin would naturally stop pursuing them relentlessly.

When the Ministry of Petroleum Industry and the Ministry of Coal Industry saw that Wei Hongjun had spoken, they stopped arguing with Lei Renmin.

In this way, everyone quickly reached a consensus.

The current import and export business of oil, coal, and other energy, as well as petrochemical and coal chemical products, with socialist countries will be consolidated to form the China National Energy Import and Export Corporation. All energy and energy product import and export business between China and socialist countries will be entrusted to the China National Energy Import and Export Corporation. This will be coordinated and managed by the Ministry of Petroleum Industry and the Ministry of Coal Industry.

At the same time, import and export operations with non-socialist countries were consolidated, and the former China National Chemical Import and Export Corporation was renamed the China National Chemicals Import and Export Corporation. This was the predecessor of Sinochem Group, and this was handed over to the Ministry of Foreign Trade for reorganization. After the Ministry of Foreign Trade concluded its proposal, Minister of Transportation Wang Shoudao stated, "Recently, many grassroots transportation departments have complained to our Ministry of Transportation. They say that a number of unauthorized freight companies have emerged in local areas, seriously disrupting local transportation order."

1140 Freight Issues

Wei Hongjun looked through the data submitted by the Ministry of Transport.

Sure enough, conflicts continued.

Local transportation departments want to suppress the transportation companies that have begun to develop from small cooperatives, but these transportation companies are not only supported by many rural cooperatives, but also by township organizations. These transportation companies are jointly developed by township governments and cooperatives.

From a political perspective, these companies are indeed inferior to state-owned transport companies, let alone local governments. However, these transport companies are, after all, the product of a partnership between townships and cooperatives, and they cannot be abolished with a single word. This is especially true given that these companies all have official licenses.

Because the central government had never thought about developing various types of transportation companies.

Neither the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications has any regulations in this regard, stating that the establishment of a freight transportation company must obtain their approval.

Basically, as long as the local government wants to set up a transportation company,

Just go to the Ministry of Commerce to register.

Cooperative transport companies in counties and townships have developed in response to the liberalization of the agricultural and sideline product market. Later, the Ministry of Rural Affairs supported the development of rural industry and commerce. Rural cooperatives were able to open factories simply by registering with the Industrial and Commercial Bureau, significantly simplifying procedures.

Therefore, most of the transport companies developed by rural cooperatives chose to register with the Administration for Industry and Commerce, becoming formal transport companies approved by the Administration. Local transportation departments are now suddenly trying to regulate these companies, but they have no reason to do so. The Ministry of Transportation itself has no regulations in this regard. However, local state-owned transport companies have been demanding that local transportation departments address these cooperative-developed transport companies. Local transportation departments, caught in a dilemma, have escalated the issue to the county and prefectural governments. As a result, when the prefectural and county governments addressed the issue, many areas directly demanded the dissolution of these freight companies. However, these orders have been met with resistance from townships and local cooperatives, who questioned the reason for disbanding their freight companies. This has led to widespread unrest in many areas.

The development of a free market for agricultural and sideline products has generated massive demand for freight, naturally boosting the development of grassroots transportation. Consequently, the emergence of numerous cooperative freight transport companies in county and township markets is inevitable. After competition, some companies have retreated, while others have emerged victorious. In some areas, several freight transport companies have collaborated to achieve greater success.

Again.

Unity is strength. Unless national policy or provincial authorities truly want to suppress the enterprises developed by county and township rural cooperatives, or unless there's a serious conflict of interest, provincial and municipal governments are reluctant to engage in serious conflict with these cooperatives. After all, unlike private enterprises, cooperatives are backed by numerous cooperatives and can involve thousands of people. With county and township support, the number of people involved could reach tens of thousands. If mishandled, mass incidents could result, negatively impacting the provinces and cities.

This is also the reason for the current conflict in cargo transportation.

Cooperative enterprises are indeed at a disadvantage in all aspects.

However, once cooperatives grow, they involve more than just one or two cooperatives; they can easily involve one or two thousand households. Therefore, the government is extremely cautious in its handling of these enterprises. If it were a private enterprise, the government would suppress it without hesitation. Because local governments are unable to resolve the issue, they are taking it to higher authorities. Local governments are requesting that the Ministry of Transport issue clear regulations. With national policies in place, handling these issues will be much simpler.

While reviewing the data, Wei Hongjun asked, "Comrade Tao Zhu, Comrade Ouyang Qin, Guangdong and Heilongjiang must have had quite a few of these problems. How did you resolve them?"

Only when the economy is active can freight transportation be active.

China's bulk commodity freight is handled by large state-owned transport companies.

It must be a smaller freight shipment.

This kind of freight must be at the grassroots level.

Currently, the provinces with the most active economies below the county level are Guangdong, Heilongjiang, Zhejiang, Hunan, and Jiangxi. So Wei Hongjun asked Tao Zhu and Ouyang Qin directly. Tao Zhu said, "Private freight transport in Guangdong is very active.

However, we will not interfere with these matters. As long as they are officially registered freight companies, we support their participation in freight transportation. The freight capacity of government-established transport companies is far from sufficient to meet Guangdong's freight needs."

When Wei Hongjun heard Tao Zhu's answer, he not only heard a sense of complacency, but also heard a hidden meaning.

Tao Zhu is telling Wei Hongjun that the so-called conflict

In fact, these problems arise because the local transportation company established by the government cannot compete with the freight company of the cooperative.

Guangdong does not have this problem.

why?

Guangdong's freight traffic has grown rapidly in recent years. Despite establishing four provincial-level transport companies, each deploying trucks, they're still overwhelmed. Even the transport companies established at the district and county levels are swamped with orders.

Guangdong's state-owned transport companies enjoy high revenues and profits. After paying sufficient taxes and profits to the government, a significant amount of capital remains within the companies. Consequently, employees at these transport companies enjoy excellent benefits.

Because of this, they have no time to care about the freight companies established by the cooperatives.

They can develop however they want.

Guangdong is currently in a phase where the pie is still growing, so conflicts of interest are limited. It's not that Guangdong doesn't have this problem, it's just that it hasn't erupted yet.

But other provinces clearly don't have the same confidence as Guangdong. While China's overall economy continues to grow, so too do these transportation companies. Therefore, they're reluctant to have their business taken away by rising freight companies.

This is where the contradiction lies.

Ouyang Qin said, "There aren't many conflicts in Heilongjiang. The bulk of the freight there is trade between us and the Soviet Union. Therefore, both the shipping schedule and the overall volume are relatively fixed. Therefore, Heilongjiang is primarily served by large state-owned transport companies. As for goods scattered across various locations, we let the cooperatives deliver them on time. We don't care how they deliver the goods to the designated locations."

Heilongjiang and Guangdong are different.

The cargo in Guangdong is scattered. Apart from some large orders, other orders are placed based on individual needs. Therefore, no one can guarantee the specific data of daily cargo volume.

Therefore, state-owned transport companies and transport companies established by cooperatives take orders together.

But Heilongjiang is different.

The orders from Heilongjiang are mainly contracts between government departments. So the order volume is fixed.

The delivery time is also fixed.

Therefore, when Ouyang Qin was in Heilongjiang, he specifically merged all of Heilongjiang's state-owned transport companies to form several large transport companies responsible for transporting large cargo. As for the transportation of smaller cargoes, the transportation was completely handed over to the county and township rural cooperatives. This was because the Heilongjiang government was already extremely busy transporting cargo for Sino-Soviet trade and had no capacity to manage smaller cargoes.